Shall vs. Can

Shallverb

Used before a verb to indicate the simple future tense in the first person singular or plural.

Shallverb

Used similarly to indicate determination or obligation in the second and third persons singular or plural.

Shallverb

Used in questions with the first person singular or plural to suggest a possible future action.

Shallverb

(obsolete) To owe.

Shallverb

To owe; to be under obligation for.

Shallverb

To be obliged; must.

Shallverb

As an auxiliary, shall indicates a duty or necessity whose obligation is derived from the person speaking; as, you shall go; he shall go; that is, I order or promise your going. It thus ordinarily expresses, in the second and third persons, a command, a threat, or a promise. If the auxillary be emphasized, the command is made more imperative, the promise or that more positive and sure. It is also employed in the language of prophecy; as, "the day shall come when . . . , " since a promise or threat and an authoritative prophecy nearly coincide in significance. In shall with the first person, the necessity of the action is sometimes implied as residing elsewhere than in the speaker; as, I shall suffer; we shall see; and there is always a less distinct and positive assertion of his volition than is indicated by will. "I shall go" implies nearly a simple futurity; more exactly, a foretelling or an expectation of my going, in which, naturally enough, a certain degree of plan or intention may be included; emphasize the shall, and the event is described as certain to occur, and the expression approximates in meaning to our emphatic "I will go." In a question, the relation of speaker and source of obligation is of course transferred to the person addressed; as, "Shall you go?" (answer, "I shall go"); "Shall he go?" i. e., "Do you require or promise his going?" (answer, "He shall go".) The same relation is transferred to either second or third person in such phrases as "You say, or think, you shall go;" "He says, or thinks, he shall go." After a conditional conjunction (as if, whether) shall is used in all persons to express futurity simply; as, if I, you, or he shall say they are right. Should is everywhere used in the same connection and the same senses as shall, as its imperfect. It also expresses duty or moral obligation; as, he should do it whether he will or not. In the early English, and hence in our English Bible, shall is the auxiliary mainly used, in all the persons, to express simple futurity. (Cf. Will, v. t.) Shall may be used elliptically; thus, with an adverb or other word expressive of motion go may be omitted.

Canverb

To know how to; to be able to.

Canverb

May; to be permitted or enabled to.

Canverb

(modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have the potential to; be possible.

Canverb

(auxiliary verb, defective) Used with verbs of perception.

Canverb

To seal in a can.

Canverb

To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.

Canverb

To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).

Canverb

To shut up.

Canverb

To fire or dismiss an employee.

Cannoun

A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium, but sometimes of plastic, and with a carrying handle over the top.

Cannoun

A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).

Cannoun

A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.

Cannoun

A chamber pot, now a toilet or lavatory.

Cannoun

Buttocks.

Cannoun

(slang) Jail or prison.

Cannoun

Headphones.

Cannoun

(archaic) A drinking cup.

Cannoun

(nautical) A cube-shaped buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark

Cannoun

A chimney pot.

Can

an obs. form of began, imp. & p. p. of Begin, sometimes used in old poetry. [See Gan.]

Cannoun

A drinking cup; a vessel for holding liquids.

Cannoun

A vessel or case of tinned iron or of sheet metal, of various forms, but usually cylindrical; as, a can of tomatoes; an oil can; a milk can.

Canverb

To preserve by putting in sealed cans

Canverb

To know; to understand.

Canverb

To be able to do; to have power or influence.

Canverb

To be able; - followed by an infinitive without to; as, I can go, but do not wish to.

Cannoun

airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.

Cannoun

the quantity contained in a can

Cannoun

a buoy with a round bottom and conical top

Cannoun

the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on;

Cannoun

a plumbing fixture for defecation and urination

Cannoun

a room equipped with toilet facilities

Canverb

preserve in a can or tin;

Canverb

terminate the employment of;

Canverb

be able to

Canverb

be able to through acquired knowledge or skill

Canverb

have the opportunity or possibility to

Canverb

used to express doubt or surprise about the possibility of something's being the case

Canverb

used to indicate that something is typically the case

Canverb

be permitted to

Canverb

used to request someone to do something

Canverb

used to make a suggestion or offer

Canverb

preserve (food) in a can

Canverb

dismiss from a job

Canverb

reject as inadequate

Cannoun

a cylindrical metal container

Cannoun

a small steel or aluminium container in which food or drink is hermetically sealed for storage over long periods

Cannoun

the quantity of food or drink held by a can

Cannoun

prison

Cannoun

the toilet

Cannoun

headphones.

Cannoun

a woman's breasts.